Educational Science

Is the sun a node in a gigantic alien space internet? Scientists scanned the skies to check.

Are aliens using a quirk of the sun's gravity to transmit information through an interstellar communication network? For the first time ever, astronomers explored this intriguing possibility and scanned for signals coming from hidden nonhuman probes orbiting the sun. So far, the method hasn't turned up signs of spacefaring aliens,...

8 possible alien 'technosignatures' detected around distant stars in new AI study

Using a new machine-learning algorithm, scientists have picked up eight extraterrestrial signals that seem to bear the hallmarks of technology. The research, published Jan. 30 in the journal Nature Astronomy, doesn't claim to have really found proof of intelligent aliens; a brief follow-up search for the signals detected in the...

If intelligent aliens are searching for other advanced lifeforms in the galaxy, our cell phone towers could be the beacons that give Earthlings away. New research suggests that advanced aliens in nearby star systems could probably already detect radio signals from cell phone towers. And as these signals become more...

James Webb telescope discovers gargantuan geyser on Saturn's moon, blasting water hundreds of miles into space

Scientists caught Saturn's icy moon Enceladus spraying a huge plume of watery vapor far into space — and that plume likely contains many of the chemical ingredients for life. Scientists detailed the eruption — glimpsed by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in November 2022 — at a conference at...

Aliens could be hiding in 'terminator zones' on planets with eternal night

Imagine if one side of the Earth always faced the sun. Half of the planet would be stuck in perpetual daylight, the other shrouded in permanent night. But for aliens in other solar systems, our doomsday scenario may be their everyday — and life might get along just fine. In...

Why hasn't ET phoned Earth? Maybe aliens are waiting for the exact right moment.

Aliens may be waiting until a cosmic version of high noon to send out their signals to us, scientists have suggested. In a new study, researchers hunted for technological signs of E.T. during the moments when exoplanets pass directly in front of their suns, from Earth's point of view. These...

7 out-of-this-world alien stories from 2022

A metallic sphere zooms across the flight path of a military jet. A mysterious signal in the world's largest telescope sparks international alarm. And scientists discover that potential Martian life may have wiped itself out eons ago. It's been a busy year for all things out there. Here are seven...

Are aliens real?

Are aliens real? It's a good question. There currently isn't any evidence for life on other planets, but the universe is a big place, and it seems unlikely that out of the trillions of planets presumed to exist in our 13.8 billion-year-old universe, only Earth has ever hosted life. (This...

Alien life could be turning harsh planets into paradises — and astronomers want to find them

Once life gains even the tiniest foothold on a planet, it may have the power to transform that world, forcing us to broaden our definition of habitable, new research suggests. We don't really know where life might arise. We have only one example of a life-hosting planet, Earth, which started...

Pentagon is struggling to explain more than 170 fresh UFO reports, new document reveals

The U.S. government has been inundated with hundreds of UFO encounter reports in the past year, and about half of them remain inexplicable, according to an unclassified document released by the Pentagon Thursday (Jan. 12). The 11-page report, filed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), reveals...